Nurburgring 2007 - that time of the year.

[JohnC]

After last years experience, I had to go again.
Last year (http://www.zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=116855) it was just me and a friend with 1 911 Carrera S and a bmw 530 diesel as a "service car".
This year, 8 friends 7 cars. 5 porsches 1 Audi RS4 and an Audi TT 2L turbo.
5 days, 2 full 8am to 7pm days. 300+ miles on the track!
28-August - 2-September.
all porsches needed a front brake pad replacement after the first 3 days :angel: . We swaped racing pads from a local tuning shop and swapped the stock ones back in before we returned the cars. the all were returned with "Service brakes" warning lit.:) but this was OK with them since we let them know about it prior to returning the cars.

The green hell is an appropriate name for the track.
Cars and bikes were littered on the track, so many accidents it was amazing.

Videos - Sorry but high quality vids are just too large to upload but....
here is my lap - 8:27 from bridge to bridge - 911 C2 (NOT S like last year!!!! ) Pay attention to the M5 Ring Taxi that let me pass on the climb.
(excuse my woo hoo at the end of the lap, excitement got the better of me.)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KH_geTHv7fc

Me in the 911, chase car to film my friend in the RS4.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UFP8lDUwzt8


Here are some pictures. The ones that have logos on them were taken by photographer that sell the photos later from their galleries. I ordered a few pictures they got of me. All the black porsches and silver RS4 and white TT are our cars with us driving. All the crappy pictures, we took :-/

Start off with a EU spec 200sx (240sx US)
http://www.driftclub-il.com/johnc/nurburgring2007/sized_1092007touristenfahrt 280.JPG

[JohnC]

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[JohnC]

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[JohnC]

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[JohnC]

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[JohnC]

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[JohnC]

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[JohnC]

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[JohnC]

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[JohnC]

double post sorry.

[nevaland9]

holy shit that looks amazing, how much did all that cost, was it some kind of program or just a random day?

[JohnC]

It was DTM weekend so also got to see that, some pics.


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[JohnC]

and a few more

http://www.driftclub-il.com/johnc/nurburgring2007/IMG_0021.JPG
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[JohnC]

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[khoadogg]

holy shiet!!! off the hook!!! put that as one of my "have to do, have to see" things before i die... man!! awesome post!

[JohnC]

Vids updated in first post.

Cost wise, approximately $3.5K each with the flight from Israel to Germany, Cars, Gas, Brake pads :-), Place to stay, Gas - A lot of gas as a porsche driven hard will want gas after 6 laps which is barely 75 miles, Each single lap costs 19 EU which is something like 22-23$ i think but you get a good deal if you buy in bulk :-), food etc.. etc..
It was a tradition we started last year, just friends that drive OK+ who are responsible enough to drive this track without going over the top and pushing it too far since insurance coverage is somewhat vague since this is considered to be a toll road and not a track per say.
The rental company knows what we do with the cars as the navigation system has historic entries all pointing to the track.
The track , being a toll road, is open to all. yes even the bus you will see in the second video is allowed to do laps.

I will be there in a few months again do finnaly do a closed training day on the track with the new M series BMWs. After about 35 laps, I know the track with its 73 turns and twists and 15 miles per lap like the back of my hand. I even got down to 8:10 lap times but the course will allow me to learn the tricks that only an experienced instructor can teach you.

[whitefro]

you dirty dirty bastard, i am so ridiculously jealous.

[Flybert]

This is the greatest thread on zilvia, ever.

[pinkarrowsnow]

WOW that is very cool would love to do that one day.

[O3DigitalBath]

+1 for a great thread about someone beating on a 911 with pics and vids to back it up

[JDMS1lv1a]

The only Nurburgring I've experienced was playing Forza. lol

You go to the real thing. Im so jealous right now

That must be a awesome experience and by far one the coolest thing I've ever seen :faint:

[wootwoot]

So what the hell do you do for a living again? Christ. 3.5k in Euros?

[slappythehomelessclown]

Im so jealous of you right now i just wanna crawl under my bed and cry.

[Matej]

I love how you don't have to wear a helmet on the track, that's awesome, haha.

[JohnC]

Thank you all.

License plate LB-PF-361 is me.

its 3.5K US Dollars but if you add the cost of flying from the US it will be 3.5K in Euros.
I actually feel bad now, I can't understand why I came back home. Oh right, Work. So I can pay off my expensive habits.
What Do I do? I work as A Unix Production Infrastructure Team Leader for the Israeli Branch Of RSA Security (now owned by EMC).

With regards to helmets, Since as I posted this is a toll road, no helmets required.
All I can say to you all is:
1 play the GT4 or Forza andget to know the track
2 Save up
3 Experience the Horror that is this track.
4 Realize that no amount of playing this on a console will ever prepare you for the real thing.

The Video doesnt deliver the Dips and Air time this track has to offer and it doesnt let you feel all the blood rushing down your head after going down "the fox hole" at 130-140 mph at a 45 degree angle and having the track suddenly go up hill in a matter of 30-50 feet and your brain not being able to brake,steer,rev match and down shift all together. This is insane!! gotta go again.

[SimpleSexy180]

You Lucky Son Of A Bish!!! I Hate You!!! <3<3

:)

[a_ahmed]

Too cool :) I WISH we had something like this in north america :(

Haha, when it comes to video games, nothing compares to real life :) Driving even the fastest car in gt4 or forza 2 doesn't feel as fun as a real car :P But the nurburgring is soo much fun, if only there was such a thing in real life here :(

Just curious you set a 8:27 time with your 240 or your porsche?

What are the specs on your 240 if thats a 240 record :P :)

[JohnC]

8:27 is with the porsche.
My 240, well will wait till next year to visit the Nurburgring. We are in the final stages to get this trip semi sponsored so we can take our own cars to the track. I was in the 8:10 range on some laps but that is with almost no interuptions. In my vid you can see me getting held up by a Audi A8 and that cost me almost 3 seconds, compared to other videos I have ,since it is a relatively fast part on the track. The yellow flag, nearly 5 seconds since it is a forth gear approach and hard brake to 3rd but had to do it in second gear as I do not want to get black flagged.

All in all, I also keep a fairly big safety margin. I had a enough surprises in the form of bikes wiping out in front of me, car doing 720's aand hitting barriers and the stupid biker that slid out and ran across the track to get his bike while I am coming around a blind corner at almost a 100 mph and having to thread the car between him and his bike. Luckily he had the sense to not move once he noticed me coming around the corner!!!.
No point in getting into trouble just to say "Ya I did a 8 minute lap". It matters but not that much. On top of that you need to consider that official porsche 911 S lap times are 7:5x but that is FOR the Entire loop! So I am still a good 30 seconds off porsche test drivers :-) although my car is slower and doesn't brake as good as the S I had last year and is less rigid and it was a convertible and I DON'T HAVE THOUSANDS OF LAPS UNDER MY BELT and if they crash so what? they got roll cages and the porsche factory behind them. excuses excuses I know.

I will have more vids for you of another friend in a porsche and from inside the rs4. In the RS4 video you will see my friend passing an evo, that same evo just 1 minute later ended up in the barriers and the other porsche caught it on video. I also sent a friend to video me coming down the hill to the spectators area (hence the all the honking in my video to let them no I am coming :-) so I will have that for you as well.

[steve shadows]

this thread is like heaven

[DOOK]

me sooooo horny :D

[extra-made garage]

So, what do I have to do to get hired by your branch., so I can afford to go to Nurburgring,:).
J/K, seriously I'm envious of you right now. Great thread!

[rican_nick]

OH GOD......

nice man!